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Don't know if anyone's read the Hun today, but this best 25 players of the past 50 years is a strange one.
Basically, nine 'experts' nominated their best 25. They were Malthouse, Brereton, King, Jon Anderson, Glen McFarlane, Jon Ralph, Scott Gullan and Sam Edmund.
They seem to have taken the top 25 from each and reached a consensus top 25.
Quick rundown from a Dogs fan's perspective:
1. Dempsey only got on one panellist's list (Anderson's at 16)
2. Quinlan didn't get nominated in anyone's top 25
3. D Hawkins got into 2 lists (Malthouse's at 7 & Gullan's at 25)
4. Grant got into one list (Gullan's at 20.)
5. Malthouse was very generous to players he coached (Doug at 7, Jakovich at 3, Judd 9, McKenna at 18, Swan 22, Matera 23)
6. Despite the above, Malthouse did not include Nathan Buckley (who appeared in 3 other panellists' lists.) Hate runs deep.
7. Mick also didn't fit ANY Abletts into his top 25... So he's quirky!
8. In Essendon's list of their all time top 50 players released a couple of years back, James Hird appears third. Madden fifth. This is something I pointed out as staggering at the time. The cult of Hird is an incredible thing! For me, there's no question Madden is the best Essendon player I've seen.
Therefore it's interesting to see how Madden and Hird compare when rated by non-Essendon people:
Madden made EVERY list. Hird made just 6 of the 9. Madden was ahead of Hird on all but two lists. One of those was, you guessed it, sycophant Robbo's list. The other was, surprisingly, Scott Gullan.
Gullan, a lifelong Doggies man, was the only 'expert' to have Daicos in his list. He was also the only one to have Darren Jarman (Dogs fans understand this!) as well as Aker. He was also the only one to have more than one Dogs player on his list. He had three (!) in Hawkins, Grant and Aker. He didn't squeeze Dempsey in!
Royce Hart only made 7 of the 11 lists. Meanwhile Carey sat between 1&3 on every list. I think it's clear that Carey would usurp Hart at CHF in any revised "Team of the Century."
Anyway, the apparent consensus top 25 are apparently:
1. Matthews
2. Carey
3. Lockett
4. Ablett Snr
5. Dunstall
6. Ablett Jnr
7. Hudson
8. Madden
9. Bartlett
10. Williams
11. Judd
12. Voss
13. Hart
14. Stewart
15. Hird
16. Franklin
17. Silvagni
18. Doull
19. Jakovich
20. Jezza
=21. Blight & Mitchell
23. Goodes
24. Scarlett
25. Buckley
Call me biased, but if I had a choice between an 18 year old Bernie Quinlan or an 18 year old Jakovich, I'd take Bernie every time. I simply couldn't see Jakovich being able to swing forward and do what Bernie did. Bernie had far more talent. What a difference playing in premierships does for your reputation!
Could be fun to do a Dogs-only list if it hasn't been done before..?
FWIW, I reckon Bontempelli could be hit by a bus tomorrow and still be in the top 2-3... And he's only 21!
Basically, nine 'experts' nominated their best 25. They were Malthouse, Brereton, King, Jon Anderson, Glen McFarlane, Jon Ralph, Scott Gullan and Sam Edmund.
They seem to have taken the top 25 from each and reached a consensus top 25.
Quick rundown from a Dogs fan's perspective:
1. Dempsey only got on one panellist's list (Anderson's at 16)
2. Quinlan didn't get nominated in anyone's top 25
3. D Hawkins got into 2 lists (Malthouse's at 7 & Gullan's at 25)
4. Grant got into one list (Gullan's at 20.)
5. Malthouse was very generous to players he coached (Doug at 7, Jakovich at 3, Judd 9, McKenna at 18, Swan 22, Matera 23)
6. Despite the above, Malthouse did not include Nathan Buckley (who appeared in 3 other panellists' lists.) Hate runs deep.
7. Mick also didn't fit ANY Abletts into his top 25... So he's quirky!
8. In Essendon's list of their all time top 50 players released a couple of years back, James Hird appears third. Madden fifth. This is something I pointed out as staggering at the time. The cult of Hird is an incredible thing! For me, there's no question Madden is the best Essendon player I've seen.
Therefore it's interesting to see how Madden and Hird compare when rated by non-Essendon people:
Madden made EVERY list. Hird made just 6 of the 9. Madden was ahead of Hird on all but two lists. One of those was, you guessed it, sycophant Robbo's list. The other was, surprisingly, Scott Gullan.
Gullan, a lifelong Doggies man, was the only 'expert' to have Daicos in his list. He was also the only one to have Darren Jarman (Dogs fans understand this!) as well as Aker. He was also the only one to have more than one Dogs player on his list. He had three (!) in Hawkins, Grant and Aker. He didn't squeeze Dempsey in!
Royce Hart only made 7 of the 11 lists. Meanwhile Carey sat between 1&3 on every list. I think it's clear that Carey would usurp Hart at CHF in any revised "Team of the Century."
Anyway, the apparent consensus top 25 are apparently:
1. Matthews
2. Carey
3. Lockett
4. Ablett Snr
5. Dunstall
6. Ablett Jnr
7. Hudson
8. Madden
9. Bartlett
10. Williams
11. Judd
12. Voss
13. Hart
14. Stewart
15. Hird
16. Franklin
17. Silvagni
18. Doull
19. Jakovich
20. Jezza
=21. Blight & Mitchell
23. Goodes
24. Scarlett
25. Buckley
Call me biased, but if I had a choice between an 18 year old Bernie Quinlan or an 18 year old Jakovich, I'd take Bernie every time. I simply couldn't see Jakovich being able to swing forward and do what Bernie did. Bernie had far more talent. What a difference playing in premierships does for your reputation!
Could be fun to do a Dogs-only list if it hasn't been done before..?
FWIW, I reckon Bontempelli could be hit by a bus tomorrow and still be in the top 2-3... And he's only 21!
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